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Author: Joe

Fan of Bruce Springsteen, the New York Mets, and The Simpsons... not necessarily in that order.

Praying to an empty chair

Published September 2, 2014

ChairHave you ever felt guilty about your prayer life? I have. I’ve read books and listened to sermons about prayer, and known I don’t measure up to the standard being presented. But trying to pray “right” is a misnomer. It would be like having a conversation with your spouse “correctly.” We don’t do that. We just talk. Prayer is the same thing. We shouldn’t be worried about saying some special words to make God happy, or to convince him to do what we would like to have done. Instead, prayer is about a relationship — like talking to your spouse or a close friend.

Consider this story

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Won’t You Be My Neighbor – Sermon Text

Published July 28, 2014
Preached at Tri-Lakes United Methodist Church
July 27, 2014
Text: Luke 10:25-37
Listen to it HERE

Many of us in this room grew up singing that song. Everyday at the appointed hour we sat down in front of a television and hung out in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Wont-You-Be-My-Neighbor

I have a vivid, albeit silly, memory of the profound impact Mr. Rogers had on me as a child. One day I tried to feed my goldfish the way he did—by sprinkling the food across the top of the water in the fish tank. A few minutes later, as my mom was changing the water in the fish tank, she explained to me that our fish food container didn’t have a sprinkle lid, like Mr. Rogers did, and the clumps of fish food I had dumped into the water were dangerous for my fish.

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Time to Go – Sermon Text

Published June 27, 2014
Preached: June 22, 2014 at Tri-Lakes United Methodist Church
Texts: Zechariah 14:16-21; Mark 9:2-9 
Audio: HERE
YouTube player

Can you relate? I can. As a kid growing up in New Jersey, I was surrounded by family. Within just a few minutes from my childhood home, lived both sets of grandparents, many of my aunts and uncles, and more extended family. We were in each other’s houses quite a bit and it was a great deal of fun. One grandmother had a pool, at the other’s we would play horseshoes and cards. But the coolest was my Aunt and Uncle’s house because they had an Atari and a large screen television in their den. I remember playing Pong and Tank Battle on the biggest screen I had seen outside of a movie theater, which I’m sure would pale in comparison to what we have today.

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Joseph’s 50/20 Vision – Sermon Text

Published June 14, 2014
Preached: June 15, 2014 ”“ Father’s Day ”“ Tri-Lakes United Methodist Church
Series: Beginnings: The Story of Genesis Part 8
Text: Genesis 50:15-21 (CEB)
Audio: HERE

We began by learning “Cast My Cares”

In the middle of the night when worry finds me
In the middle of a fight when strength is gone
In the middle of a fire when fear is closing in
You are You are my song
You’re my hope when hope is gone.

I will cast my cares on You the Almighty
I will cast my cares on You ’cause You’re good
I will cast my cares on You ’cause You love me, You love me
Oh oh because You love me

“Cast My Cares” by Alli Rogers & Tim Timmons
2011 Simple Tense Songs (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
Letsbebeautiful (Admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing (Admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing)

Which flowed right into this video

YouTube player

What is it for you? What are you worried about today? What fear is distracting you this morning? Most mornings I would pray that you would be able to put that junk aside while we worship. But today, I want you to reflect on it. What in your life fills you with anxiety, causes your heart to beat a little faster? As the song says, in the middle of the night, what worry finds you? In the middle of what fight, what struggle, do you find your strength gone? In the middle of what fire—and for residents of Black Forest this has special meaning especially this weekend—do you feel fear closing in?

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When It Rains… – Sermon Text

Published May 18, 2014
Series: Beginnings: The Story of Genesis Part 4
Text: Genesis 7:11-24
Preached: Sunday, May 18 at Tri-Lakes United Methodist Church
Audio: HERE
YouTube player

I showed an edited version of this clip at the opening to get us all on the same page.

PreciousMomentsNoahMany of us, especially those who have been part of the church literally for as long as we can remember, believe we know what the story of Noah is all about. We learned all about Noah’s Ark as children with images like this one.

The picture to the right is literally a Precious Moments representation of Noah’s Ark. Cute little animals, cute little people, even a couple of spiders. Give them some fishing poles and a picnic basket and they could be enjoying a lazy day on a boat.

As we look at the story this morning I ask you to take a fresh look at it, trying to suspend your preconceptions, what you already know about this story. Let’s reimagine the story together to see if there isn’t something more here for us than the “did it really happen?” argument which seems to dominate the conversation.

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Majesty! Finally! Here!

Published April 20, 2014
Preached Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014, 7am service
Texts: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; John 20:11-18

 

YouTube player
This sermon references this Chuck Knows Church video “Resurrection”
which we played earlier in the service.

1 - he_is_risenWhat a joy it is to gather here this morning, to celebrate this day which is the centerpiece of what it means to be a Christian. We have come to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As the women came together early in the morning on that first Easter Sunday to anoint Jesus’ body, so too we gather in this place. But rather than finding the body of their teacher and friend, they are confronted with an angel who tells them, “you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here” (Mark 16:6). These words change the world; these the words change us: “He has been raised.”

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